[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 24, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4366-S4370]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NOMINATION OF MARY A. McLAUGHLIN, OF PENNSYLVANIA, TO BE UNITED STATES
DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the next nomination.
The legislative clerk read the nomination of Mary A. McLaughlin, of
Pennsylvania, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania.
Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I rise in strong support of the nomination
of Mary McLaughlin to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District
of Pennsylvania. Those of us on the Judiciary Committee know Ms.
McLaughlin from her outstanding work as Special Counsel for our
Terrorism Subcommittee during the Ruby Ridge investigation in 1995.
During those hearings, Ms. McLaughlin demonstrated precisely the
qualities we want in a federal judge--she is intelligent, fair-minded,
tough, possesses a judicial temperament, and is deeply committed to the
cause of justice. Once we put her on the bench, she is going to be a
terrific federal judge.
Our Ruby Ridge subcommittee ran the ideological gamut. Yet Ms.
McLaughlin gained the respect and admiration of all of our colleagues
from both parties who worked with her--Senators Specter, Thompson,
Abraham, Thurmond, Leahy, Feinstein, Grassley, and Craig--for the skill
and professionalism she brought to her work. Let me make special
mention of how tough and persistent Ms. McLaughlin was when the Justice
Department was ``less than enthusiastic'' about supplying us with
documents. Largely as a result of her efforts, we obtained the
information that we needed, and our investigation went on to become a
true model of bipartisan cooperation.
Beyond her service to the U.S. Senate, Ms. McLaughlin has stellar
credentials for a judgeship. She is a senior partner in the leading
Philadelphia law firm of Dechert, Price and Rhoads, where her practice
has concentrated in a myriad of complex litigation matters. She was a
recipient of a 1998 ``Women of Distinction'' Award from the
Philadelphia Business Journal, the National Association of Women
Business Owners, and The Forum of Executive Women. Her career has also
included teaching at the law schools of Vanderbilt University, the
University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University. In addition, Ms.
McLaughlin served for four years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the
District of Columbia where, Mr. President, she put criminals behind
bars. Not surprisingly, given this stellar record, she was unanimously
rated ``well qualified'' by the American Bar Association.
Unfortunately, a few outside groups have raised questions about her
candidacy based on a small portion of Ms. McLaughlin's pro bono work.
While it is true that she is a person of strong convictions, none is
stronger than her dedication to the Rule of Law. In other words, I am
confident that she will in all cases apply the law, not make it.
I wouldn't say that about everybody who has been nominated for a
federal judgeship in recent years.
Mr. President, Ms. McLaughlin deserves the type of strong, bipartisan
support from the entire Senate that she has already obtained from those
of us who worked with her on Ruby Ridge. ``There's something about
Mary's'' record of distinguished public service, her professional
experience, her legal talents, and her personal integrity that will
make her an outstanding Judge on the Eastern District bench. I urge my
colleagues to swiftly confirm her.
Mr. STEVENS. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination
of Mary A. McLaughlin, of Pennsylvania, to be United States District
Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania? On this question the
yeas and nays have been ordered, and the clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 86, nays 14, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 112 Ex.]
YEAS--86
Abraham
Akaka
Ashcroft
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Breaux
Bryan
Burns
Byrd
Campbell
Chafee, L.
Cleland
Cochran
Collins
Conrad
Coverdell
Craig
Crapo
Daschle
Dodd
Domenici
Dorgan
Durbin
Edwards
Feingold
Feinstein
Frist
Gorton
Graham
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hollings
Hutchinson
Hutchison
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
Mack
McCain
McConnell
Mikulski
Moynihan
Murkowski
Murray
Reed
Reid
Robb
Rockefeller
Roth
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Smith (OR)
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Thomas
Thompson
Thurmond
Torricelli
Warner
Wellstone
Wyden
NAYS--14
Allard
Brownback
Bunning
DeWine
Enzi
Fitzgerald
Gramm
Grams
Helms
Inhofe
Nickles
Roberts
Smith (NH)
Voinovich
The nomination was confirmed.
Executive Calendar
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the nominations
enumerated in the order are confirmed en bloc, the motions to
reconsider are laid upon the table, the President will be notified of
the Senate's actions, and the Senate will return to legislative
session.
The nominations considered and confirmed are as follows:
corporation for national and community service
Christopher C. Gallagher, of New Hampshire, to be a Member
of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and
Community Service for a term expiring October 6, 2003.
corporation for national and community service
Amy C. Achor, of Texas, to be a Member of the Board of
Directors of the Corporation for National and Community
Service for a term expiring October 6, 2003.
the judiciary
James D. Whittemore, of Florida, to be United States
District Judge for the Middle District of Florida.
department of the treasury
Jay Johnson, of Wisconsin, to be Director of the Mint for a
term of five years.
[[Page S4367]]
executive office of the president
Kathryn Shaw, of Pennsylvania, to be a Member of the
Council of Economic Advisers.
department of state
Alan Phillip Larson, of Iowa, to be United States Alternate
Governor of the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development for a term of five years; United States Alternate
Governor of the Inter-American Development Bank for a term of
five years; United States Alternate Governor of the African
Development Bank for a term of five years; United States
Alternate Governor of the African Development Fund; United
States Alternate Governor of the Asian Development Bank; and
United States Alternate Governor of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development.
asian development bank
N. Cinnamon Dornsife, of the District of Columbia, to be
United States Director of the Asian Development Bank, with
the rank of Ambassador.
department of state
Earl Anthony Wayne, of Maryland, a Career Member of the
Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be an
Assistant Secretary of State (Economic and Business Affairs).
national commission on libraries and information science
Bobby L. Roberts, of Arkansas, to be a Member of the
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science for
a term expiring July 19, 2003.
national science foundation
Michael G. Rossmann, of Indiana, to be a Member of the
National Science Board, National Science Foundation for a
term expiring May 10, 2006.
Daniel Simberloff, of Tennessee, to be a Member of the
National Science Board, National Science Foundation for a
term expiring May 10, 2006.
corporation for national and community service
Leslie Lenkowsky, of Indiana, to be a Member of the Board
of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community
Service for a term expiring February 8, 2004.
Juanita Sims Doty, of Mississippi, to be a Member of the
Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and
Community Service for a term expiring June 10, 2004.
national commission on libraries and information science
Joan R. Challinor, of the District of Columbia, to be a
Member of the National Commission on Libraries and
Information Science for a term expiring July 19, 2004.
railroad retirement board
Jerome F. Kever, of Illinois, to be a Member of the
Railroad Retirement Board for a term expiring August 28,
2003.
Virgil M. Speakman, Jr., of Ohio, to be a Member of the
Railroad Retirement Board for a term expiring August 28,
2004.
national security education board
Herschelle S. Challenor, of Georgia, to be a Member of the
National Security Education Board for a term of four years.
department of defense
Douglas A. Dworkin, of Maryland, to be General Counsel of
the Department of Defense.
department of the interior
Thomas A. Fry, III, of Texas, to be Director of the Bureau
of Land Management.
department of the interior
Thomas N. Slonaker, of Arizona, to be Special Trustee,
Office of Special Trustee for American Indians, Department of
the Interior.
department of labor
Edward B. Montgomery, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary
of Labor.
harry s truman scholarship foundation
Mel Carnahan, of Missouri, to be a Member of the Board of
Trustees of the Harry S Truman Scholarship Foundation for a
term expiring December 10, 2005.
Scott O. Wright, of Missouri, to be a Member of the Board
of Trustees of the Harry S Truman Scholarship Foundation for
the remainder of the term expiring December 10, 2003.
corporation for national community service
Marc Racicot, of Montana, to be a Member of the Board of
Directors of the Corporation for National and Community
Service for a term expiring October 6, 2004.
Alan D. Solomont, of Massachusetts, to be a Member of the
Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and
Community Service for a term expiring October 6, 2004.
national foundation on the arts and the humanities
Nathan O. Hatch, of Indiana, to be a Member of the National
Council on the Humanities for a term expiring January 26,
2006.
the judiciary
Richard C. Tallman, of Washington, to be United States
Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit.
Marianne O. Battani, of Michigan, to be United States
District judge for the Eastern District of Michigan.
David M. Lawson, of Michigan, to be United States District
judge for the Eastern District of Michigan.
John Antoon II, of Florida, to be United States District
judge for the Middle District of Florida.
department of justice
Mark Reid Tucker, of North Carolina, to be United States
Marshal for the Eastern District of North Carolina for the
term of four years.
metropolitan washington airports authority
John Paul Hammerschmidt, of Arkansas, to be a Member of the
Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports
Authority for a term of four years.
Norman Y. Mineta, of California, to be a Member of the
Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports
Authority for a term of six years.
Robert Clarke Brown, of Ohio, to be a Member of the Board
of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports
Authority for a term expiring November 22, 2005.
national transportation safety board
John Goglia, of Massachusetts, to be a Member of the
National Transportation Safety Board for a term expiring
December 31, 2003.
Carol Jones Carmody, of Louisiana, to be a Member of the
National Transportation Safety Board for a term expiring
December 31, 2004.
nuclear regulatory commission
Edward McGaffigan, Jr., of Virginia, to be a Member of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the term of five years
expiring June 30, 2005.
overseas private investment corporation
Gary A. Barron, of Florida, to be a Member of the Board of
Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation for
a term expiring December 17, 2002.
department of state
Thomas G. Weston, of Michigan, a Career Member of the
Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, for the
rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as Special
Coordinator for Cyprus.
Carey Cavanaugh, of Florida, a Career Member of the Senior
Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, for the rank of
Ambassador during his tenure of service as Special Negotiator
for Nagorno-Karabakh and New Independent States Regional
Conflicts.
Christopher Robert Hill, of Rhode Island, a Career Member
of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor,
to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the
United States of America to the Republic of Poland.
Donald Arthur Mahley, of Virginia, a Career Member of the
Senior Executive Service, for the rank of Ambassador during
his tenure of service as Special Negotiator for Chemical and
Biological Arms Control Issues.
Gregory G. Govan, of Virginia, for the rank of Ambassador
during his tenure of service as Chief U.S. Delegate to the
Joint Consultative Group.
department of defense
Bruce Sundlun, of Rhode Island, to be a Member of the
National Security Education Board for a term of four years.
Manuel Trinidad Pacheco, of Arizona, to be a Member of the
National Security Education Board for a term of four years.
the judiciary
Phyllis J. Hamilton, of California, to be United States
District Judge for the Northern District of California.
Nicholas G. Garaufis, of New York, to be United States
District Judge for the Eastern District of New York.
Roger L. Hunt, of Nevada, to be United States District
Judge for the District of Nevada.
Kent J. Dawson, of Nevada, to be United States District
Judge for the District of Nevada.
department of justice
Audrey G. Fleissig, of Missouri, to be United States
Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri for the term of
four years.
Steven S. Reed, of Kentucky, to be United States Attorney
for the Western District of Kentucky for the term of four
years.
Donald W. Horton, of Maryland, to be United States Marshal
for the District of Columbia for the term of four years.
E. Douglas Hamilton, of Kentucky, to be United States
Marshal for the Western District of Kentucky for the term of
four years.
Jose Antonio Periz, of California, to be United States
Marshal for the Central District of California for the term
of four years.
Donnie R. Marshall, of Texas, to be Administrator of Drug
Enforcement.
department of the treasury
Michelle Andrews Smith, of Texas, to be an Assistant
Secretary of the Treasury.
the judiciary
Berle M. Schiller, of Pennsylvania, to be United States
District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Richard Barclay Surrick, of Pennsylvania, to be United
States District Judge for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania.
Petrese B. Tucker, of Pennsylvania, to be United States
District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
[Nominations placed on the Secretary's Desk]
foreign service
Foreign Service nominations beginning John Patrice Groarke,
and ending James Curtis Struble, which nominations were
received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional
Record of May 11, 1999.
[[Page S4368]]
Foreign Service nominations beginning Mattie R. Sharpless,
and ending Howard R. Wetzel, which nominations were received
by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of
February 24, 2000.
Foreign Service nominations beginning Nancy M. McKay, and
ending Nancy Morgan Serpa, which nominations were received by
the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of
February 24, 2000.
public health service
Pubic Health Service nominations beginning Edwin L. Jones,
III, and ending Colleen E. White, which nominations were
received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional
Record of November 19, 1999.
Pubic Health Service nominations beginning Susan J.
Blumenthal, and ending William Tool, which nominations were
received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional
Record of November 19, 1999.
Nomination of Nathan Hatch
Mr. BAYH. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate Dr. Nathan
Hatch for receiving the Senate's approval of his nomination to serve as
a member of the National Council on the Humanities. Dr. Hatch has
dedicated his life to academia. He currently serves as Provost of the
University of Notre Dame and is also a Professor of History. As
Provost, Dr. Hatch has focused on three areas: the establishment of
academic centers of excellence, including the expansion of the Keough
Institute for Irish Studies and the enhancement of the Medieval
Institute; revitalization of undergraduate education through the
creation of the Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning; and the pursuit
of outstanding faculty.
Dr. Hatch is considered to be one of the most influential scholars in
the study of the history of religion in America. His book, The
Democratization of American Christianity, won both the Albert Outler
Prize in Ecumenical Church History and the John Hope Franklin Prize for
the best book in American Studies; it was also chosen by his peers as
one of the two most important books in the study of American religion.
Dr. Hatch is a remarkable asset for the University of Notre Dame and
the State of Indiana. His experiences at Notre Dame will make him a
valuable addition to the National Council on the Humanities. I applaud
the Senate today for confirming this outstanding Hoosier.
nominations of marianne battani and david lawson
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate has confirmed
the two nominees for the Federal District Court in the Eastern District
of Michigan, Judge Marianne Battani and David Lawson.
Mr. President, Michigan could not be better served. These nominees
are well-known in Michigan for their long and distinguished careers,
high standards of moral and ethical conduct, and knowledge and
commitment to the law. I have every confidence that they will both be
outstanding federal judges.
While I am glad that the Senate has finally confirmed these two
district court judges, I am deeply concerned about the vacancies in the
Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The length of time that nominees
for these positions have remained pending is unfair, both to the
nominees, and to the State of Michigan.
There are now three Michigan vacancies on the Sixth Circuit. One of
the nominees for these vacancies is Helene White, who was nominated
more than three years ago, and is still awaiting a hearing. Kathleen
McCree Lewis has been pending at the Committee awaiting a hearing for
more than eight months. And the third candidate for a Michigan seat has
not yet been nominated but hopefully will be at any time.
These Michigan candidates are intelligent and hardworking advocates
of the law, who at a minimum, deserve to have and up or down vote on
their nominations. Yet, Circuit Court of Appeals nominees continue to
face unconscionable delays in this Senate.
The Senate slowdown has a serious impact on the administration of
justice. In a March 20, 2000 letter to Senator Hatch, Judge Gilbert
Merritt, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth
Circuit, notes that these vacancies have hampered the Court's ability
to complete the public's business. The Court, in his words, is
deteriorating rapidly due to the high number of judicial vacancies.
Judge Merritt writes:
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals now has four vacancies.
Twenty-five per cent of the seats on the Sixth Circuit are
vacant. The Court is hurting badly and will not be able to
keep up with its work load due to the fact that the Senate
Judiciary Committee has acted on none of the nominations to
our Court. One of the vacancies is five years old and no vote
has ever been taken. One is two years old. We have lost many
years of judge time because of the vacancies.
By the time the next President is inaugurated, there will
be six vacancies on the Court of Appeals. Almost half of the
Court will be vacant and will remain so for most of 2001 due
to the exigencies of the nomination process. Although the
President has nominated candidates, the Senate has refused to
take a vote on any of them.
Our Court should not be treated in this fashion. The
public's business should not be treated this way. The
litigants in the federal courts should not be treated this
way. The remaining judges on a court should not be treated
this way. The situation in our Court is rapidly deteriorating
due to the fact that 25% of the judgeships are vacant. Each
active judge of our Court is now participating in deciding
more than 550 cases a year--a case load that is excessive by
any standard. In addition, we have almost 200 death penalty
cases that will be facing us before the end of next year. I
presently have six pending before me right now and many more
in the pipeline. Although the death cases are very time
consuming (the records often run to 5000 pages), we are under
very short deadlines imposed by Congress for acting on these
cases. Under present circumstances, we will be unable to meet
these deadlines. Unlike the Supreme Court, we have no
discretionary jurisdiction and must hear every case.
The Founding Fathers certainly intended that the Senate
``advise'' as to judicial nominations, i.e., consider, debate
and vote up or down. They surely did not intend that the
Senate, for partisan or factional reasons, would remain
silent and simply refuse to give any advice or consider and
vote at all, thereby leaving the courts in limbo,
understaffed and unable properly to carry out their
responsibilities for each year.
I again urge the Senate Judiciary Committee to promptly hold a
confirmation hearing for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals nominees
from Michigan. They are highly qualified individuals who deserve to be
voted on by this Senate.
NOMINATION OF RICHARD TALLMAN
Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, it is my pleasure to support the
confirmation today of Richard Tallman to the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals. In an unusual, if not unprecedented arrangement, particularly
at this time and for the controversial Ninth Circuit, the White House,
Senator Murray, and I have worked together quietly to select and
confirm absolutely first rate judges from Washington State. Dick
Tallman is no exception.
I had not met Mr. Tallman before he was chosen as a finalist for a
district court vacancy by a Judicial Merit Selection Committee jointly
appointed by Senator Murray and me. He impressed me tremendously at the
time and I was privileged to be able later to recommend him to fill a
vacancy on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Tallman enjoys broad bi-partisan support within Washington's
legal community, including that of the Democratic State Attorney
General, two former United States Attorneys for Western Washington, the
Federal Public Defender from Western Washington, the President of the
Ninth Circuit District Judges Association, and the Federal Bar
Association for the Western District of Washington.
Prior to starting his own small firm where he continues to specialize
in white collar criminal defense, Mr. Tallman practiced law for many
years at one of the largest private firms in Seattle, Bogle & Gates.
Before that he served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the
Western District of Washington. He has also been sought out by all
levels of state government, serving as a Special Assistant City
Attorney for Seattle, a Special Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for King
County, as well as a Special Assistant Attorney General for Washington
State. Over the years, Mr. Tallman has taught and lectured extensively
to groups of lawyers and non-lawyers on a range of legal topics,
instructing groups including the National Park Service, the Washington
Medical Association, and the Seattle Police Academy.
Mr. Tallman's involvement in bar and civic activities is no less
impressive than his professional record. In addition to extensive pro
bono work, he has served as president of the local federal bar
association and as chair of the lawyer delegates to the Ninth Circuit
[[Page S4369]]
Judicial Conference. He has been active in committees for local, state,
and federal bar associations, in the selection of judges, bench-bar
relations, and in helping women and minorities interested in legal
careers.
As the accomplishments I have just reviewed attest, Mr. Tallman is an
impressive man. What these accomplishments to not convey, however, is
the warmth, good humor, and the clear unpretentious intelligence I have
observed in my short acquaintance with him. The Ninth Circuit will
clearly benefit from our action today.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, one of our most important constitutional
responsibilities is to provide advice and consent on the scores of
judicial nominations sent to us to fill the vacancies on the federal
courts around the country. Today we made some progress. We confirmed 16
new judges. For that I thank the Democratic leader and the majority
leader, my counterpart on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Hatch, and
all those who worked with us to achieve Senate action on these judicial
nominees.
The Senate has finally begun to consider the judges needed to serve
the American people in our federal courts. But before any Senator
thinks that our work is done for the year, let us take stock: We are
only one-third of the way to the number of judges nominated by a
Republican President and confirmed by a Democratic majority in 1992,
and only half way to the levels of confirmations achieved in 1984 and
1988. Today we finally passed the level of 17 confirmations achieved in
1996, the year before I became the Ranking Democrat on the Judiciary
Committee. That low water mark is no measure of success, however.
Today we face more judicial vacancies than when the Senate adjourned
in 1994. That means there are more vacancies across the country than
when the Republican majority took controlling responsibility for the
Senate in January 1995. Over the last six years we have gained no
ground in our efforts to fill longstanding judicial vacancies that are
plaguing the federal courts.
In addition, recall that this is the first action that the Senate has
taken on judicial nominees since March 9, when the Senate ended 4-years
of delay and finally voted to confirm Judge Richard Paez to the Ninth
Circuit. For more than two months, for more than 10 weeks, the Senate
has not acted to confirm a single judge, not one. That stall accounts
for the backlog in judicial nominations that results in there being 16
judicial nominations on the Senate calendar today. On the other hand,
since March 9, seven additional vacancies have arisen and the Senate
has received 17 additional nominations.
There remain 36 judicial nominations pending in the Judiciary
Committee, plus new nominations that the President is sending us every
week. I have challenged the Senate to regain the pace it met in 1998
when the Committee held 13 hearing and the Senate confirmed 65 judges.
That would still be one less than the number of judges confirmed by a
Democratic Senate majority in the last year of the Bush Administration
in 1992. Indeed, in the last two years of the Bush Administration, a
Democratic Senate majority confirmed 124 judges. It would take an
additional 67 confirmations this year for this Senate to equal that
total.
Over the last five years the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed
the following: 58 federal judges in the 1995 session; 17 in 1996; 36 in
1997; 65 in 1998; and 34 in 1999. By contrast, in one year, 1994, with
a Democratic majority in the Senate, we confirmed 101 judges. With
commitment and hard work many things are achievable.
Of the confirmations achieved this year, seven were nominations that
were reported last year and should have been confirmed last year. That
would have made last year's total slightly more respectable. Instead,
they were held over and inflate this year's numbers. In addition, Tim
Dyk, one of the nominees finally being considered today, was nominated
in 1998 and has been held over two years.
Moreover, the Republican Congress has refused to consider the
authorization of the additional judges needed by the federal judiciary
to deal with their ever increasing workload. In 1984, and again in
1990, Congress responded to requests by the Chief Justice and the
Judiciary Conference for needed judicial resources. Indeed, in 1990, a
Democratic majority in the Congress created scores of needed new
judgeships during a Republican Administration.
Three years ago the Judicial Conference of the United States
requested that an additional 53 judgeships be authorized around the
country. Last year the Judicial Conference renewed its request but
increased it to 72 judgeships needing to be authorized around the
country. Instead, the only federal judgeships created since 1990 were
the nine District Court judgeships authorized in the omnibus
appropriations bill at the end of last year.
If Congress had timely considered and passed the Federal Judgeship
Act of 1999, S.1145, as it should have, the federal judiciary would
have nearly 130 vacancies today. That is the more accurate measure of
the needs of the federal judiciary that have been ignored by the
Congress over the past several years and places the vacancy rate for
the federal judiciary at 14 percent (128 out of 915). As it is, the
vacancy rate is almost 10 percent (65 out of 852) and has remained too
high throughout the five years that the Republican majority has
controlled the Senate.
Especially troubling is the vacancy rate on the courts of appeals,
which continues at over 11 percent (20 out of 179) without the creation
of any of the additional judgeships that those courts need to handle
their increased workloads.
Most troubling is the circuit emergency that had to be declared more
than seven months ago by the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals for
the Fifth Circuit. I recall when the Second Circuit had such an
emergency two years ago. Along with the other Senators representing
States from the Circuit, I worked hard to fill the five vacancies then
plaguing my circuit. The situation in the Fifth Circuit is not one that
we should tolerate; it is a situation that I wished we had confronted
by expediting consideration of the nominations of Alston Johnson and
Enrique Moreno last year. I still hope that the Senate will consider
both this year.
I deeply regret that the Senate adjourned last November and left the
Fifth Circuit to deal with the crisis in the federal administration of
justice in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi without the resources that
it desperately needs. I look forward to our resolving this difficult
situation. I will work with the Majority Leader and the Democratic
Leader to resolve that emergency at the earliest possible time.
With 20 vacancies on the Federal appellate courts across the country
and nearly half of the total judicial emergency vacancies in the
Federal courts system in our appellate courts, our courts of appeals
are being denied the resources that they need, and their ability to
administer justice for the American people is being hurt. There
continue to be multiple vacancies on the Ninth Circuit. Three vacancies
is too many and perpetuating these four judicial emergency vacancies,
as the Senate has in this one circuit, is irresponsible. We should act
on these nominations promptly and provide the Ninth Circuit with the
judicial resources it needs and to which it is entitled.
I am likewise concerned that the Fourth, Sixth and District of
Columbia Circuits are suffering from multiple vacancies.
I continue to urge the Senate to meet our responsibilities to all
nominees, including women and minorities, and look forward to action on
the nominations of Judge James Wynn, Jr. to the Fourth Circuit, Enrique
Moreno to the Fifth Circuit, Kathleen McCree Lewis to the Sixth Circuit
and Judge Johnnie Rawlinson to the Ninth Circuit. Working together the
Senate can join with the President to confirm well-qualified, diverse
and fair-minded judges to fulfill the needs of the federal courts
around the country.
Having begun so slowly in the first five months of this year, we have
much more to do before the Senate takes its final action on judicial
nominees this year. We should be considering 20 to 40 more judges this
year. Having begun so slowly, we cannot afford to follow the ``Thurmond
rule'' and stop acting on these nominees at the end of the summer in
anticipation of the presidential election. We must use all the time
until adjournment to remedy the vacancies that have been perpetuated on
[[Page S4370]]
the courts to the detriment of the American people and the
administration of justice. I urge all Senators to make the federal
administration of justice a top priority for the Senate for the rest of
this year.
____________________